About
About Virginia Rural Health Transformation
Better access to care. More opportunities to train and work in health care. Stronger support for healthy living in rural communities.
Virginia’s Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program brings communities, health care providers, educators, and state partners together to strengthen rural health care across the Commonwealth. The program supports local solutions that bring care closer to home, develop the rural health care workforce, and help providers use technology to better serve their patients.
Virginia received $189.5 million for the first budget year of the federal Rural Health Transformation Program. This national initiative provides $50 billion over five years to support rural health transformation across the states. Virginia’s work is organized around four interconnected initiatives, with a focus on improvements that rural communities can sustain over time.
Explore Funding Opportunities | Learn About Rural Virginia
Four Initiatives Supporting a Healthier Rural Virginia
CareIQ
CareIQ supports technology that helps rural providers work more efficiently and coordinate care. Priorities include provider productivity, interoperable health information systems, remote patient monitoring, and health technology innovation. These investments aim to reduce administrative burden and improve prevention and management of chronic disease.
Homegrown Health Heroes
Homegrown Health Heroes builds pathways into healthcare careers for people who live in rural Virginia. The initiative supports physician recruitment and retention, allied health education, Earn to Learn programs, and early career pipelines. Its goal is a lasting workforce of clinicians and allied health professionals serving their own communities.
Connected Care, Closer to Home
Connected Care, Closer to Home supports flexible models that make healthcare easier to reach. Mobile and hybrid care, community paramedicine, and innovative maternal care can connect rural residents with services closer to where they live and reduce avoidable emergency department visits.
Live Well Together
Live Well Together focuses on prevention and healthier daily living. Its priorities include Food is Medicine, Active Kids, consumer technology, and integrated care for people enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. These efforts aim to improve chronic disease outcomes and support healthier rural communities.
View Initiative Funding Opportunities
Built Around Rural Communities
Virginia’s approach centers on the needs and ideas of rural residents, providers, and community partners. Ongoing engagement with local organizations helps identify barriers to care and shape implementation. The program uses the rural definition established by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. The program currently serves 76 rural localities across the Commonwealth.
Explore Virginia’s Rural Communities
Our Implementation Partners
The Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) is the federal award recipient and program administrator, with oversight by Virginia’s Health and Human Resources Secretariat. Key Implementation Partners manage assigned sub-initiatives and work together with providers, education partners, and community organizations to put the program into practice.
| Partner | Area of Support |
|---|---|
| Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation | Technology innovation fund |
| Virginia Health Care Foundation | Provider productivity and interoperability |
| Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association Foundation | Remote patient monitoring, physician recruitment and retention, and Food is Medicine |
| Virginia Foundation for Community College Education | Allied health degrees |
| Virginia Works | Earn to Learn programs |
| Virginia Department of Education | Healthcare career pipelines |
| Virginia Department of Health | Community paramedicine and innovative maternal care |
| Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth | Active Kids and consumer technology |
| Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services | Integrated care for people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid |
| Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission | Mobile and hybrid care in the Shenandoah Valley |
| Virginia Center for Health Innovation | Program evaluation and monitoring |
Programs and funding opportunities vary. If your organization is interested in applying for funding, visit Ways to Apply and the RFA Navigator to find the relevant partner organization and review the application information. Individual Requests for Applications provide the requirements, deadlines, and eligibility rules for each opportunity.
Virginia’s Funding and Accountability
Virginia submitted its application to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November 2025 and received its initial award in December 2025. Federal funding is awarded across five budget periods, from federal fiscal year 2026 through 2030. Future award amounts depend on the program performance and the CMS re-scoring process.
Virginia has developed reporting to track implementation and progress toward program goals, including better access to primary and maternal care, a stronger rural workforce, and greater adoption of technology by rural providers. Sustainability planning is key part of the program to help successful approaches continue beyond the expiration of federal funding.
Read Virginia’s CMS Application | Read the Application Overview | Federal Notice of Award
Stay Connected
Follow program announcements, explore funding opportunities, and learn about ways to participate in rural health transformation.